Free State Business 2021

OVERVIEW
Education and training
Coding and AI are in the curriculum.
Image: UFS
Sector Insight
Flavius Mareka TVET College
is a Centre of Specialisation
for two trades.
Anational policy of promoting training in critical trades has
been adopted. Two of the three campuses of Flavius Mareka
TVET College are designated Centres of Specialisation, for
electrical work at Sasolburg and plumbing at Kroonstad. The
Mphohadi campus of the college is also in Kroonstad.
The Free State has about 14 000 students at four Technical and
Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, taught by 400
lecturers. All of the colleges have multiple sites. Maluti TVET College in
Phuthaditjhaba, for example, offers classes at eight sites. Motheo TVET
College operates in Bloemfontein and Thaba Nchu, while Goldfields
TVET College is headquartered in Welkom with some classes offered in
Thabong and a satellite campus at Virginia (Meloding).
In early 2020 the completion of the building of three new schools
was announced by the Premier of the Free State, Sisi Ntombela. A
further six new schools will be built in the 2020/21 financial year.
Coding has been introduced at some schools and the first winner of
the Robotic League was Albert Moroka High School in Thaba Nchu.
Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) handed over its 16th
sponsored ICT and Science laboratory in 2020 to Akademia High
School, Brandfort. The donation forms part of a five-year “Back to
School” CSI initiative which has seen ATNS sponsor laboratories across
the country to schools from impoverished communities.
The Free State Provincial Government is implementing South
Africa’s largest global skills development programme in support of
the National Development Plan (NDP). The free overseas training
programme entails about 905 students studying in leading universities
in China, India, Germany, Portugal, Russia, Turkey and Belarus.
Online Resources
Central University of Technology: www.cut.ac.za
Flavius Mareka TVET College: www.flaviusmareka.net
Free State Department of Education:
www.education.fs.gov.za
University of the Free State: www.ufs.ac.za
Fields of study range from
engineering to computer
science, medicine and
pharmacy. Of the 175 young
people who were awarded
overseas bursaries in the
Department of Agriculture,
46 have graduated and were
placed in the department and
some have been employed in
agro-businesses.
The University of the Free
State has 158 researchers
rated by the National Research
Foundation (NRF), two A-rated
scientists and five tier-one SARChi
research chairs. The university
has 18 international research
partnerships and produces an
average of 240 postgraduate
research degrees every year.
The Central University of
Technology (CUT) has four
faculties: Engineering, Built
Environment and Information
and Technology, Health and
Environmental Sciences,
Humanities and Management
Sciences. Researchers at
units such as the Centre for
Community, Environmental
and Industrial Development
tackle important regional issues.
The CUT has started training
programmes in artificial
intelligence, 3D cloud computing
and data screening. ■
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